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Friday, November 29, 2013

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!! For me, on my homestead,
we have not had our Thanksgiving meal yet. Leanne arrives home tomorrow so we
will be celebrating on Sunday. I will have all but one of my children here and
grandchildren and friends will be joining us as well.

Leanne arrives home tomorrow evening and our family plans on meeting her at the
airport. There is a whole lot of excitement in the air for our family right now.
Her welcoming at the airport will be filled with family and friends. Afterwards
we are having a little welcome home party at our house. I have goodies to serve
and we look forward to just spending the time with her. Then she can get some
sleep (it is a very long flight time for her) and enjoy the holiday on Sunday.

For now I’m cooking and cleaning and preparing all I can ahead of time. I even
plan on cooking the turkey and making the gravy the day before. I want to enjoy
my family time with them, not be busy in the kitchen.

Today I plan to put up the Christmas tree. I’ll wait to pull out extra
decorations until next week. I wanted the house to be festive. We’ll put on some
Christmas music and enjoy the preparations today. My French daughter (I
mentioned her in a previous blog post. She is a friend of my daughters and has
come back to spend time with us. She fits in so well with our family that we now
call her our French daughter) is here and has been a big help to me and Sierra
in all our planning and preparations.

Due to this busy family time for me I may not be back to blog for a few days.
But I’m sure I’ll have pictures to share next time of our reunion with Leanne.

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

I am
sure a lot of you reading this already know how to cook a turkey. But I also
know that many ladies have never done it before. I was in my late 20’s before I
cooked my first turkey. My grandma or mom or mother in law had always done that
part. When I went to cook my first turkey I was reading lots of cookbooks and
talking with my mother to learn. It is not like we have the opportunity to
practice turkey roasting too often!

I
thought I would just share from my own turkey roasting experience how I have
done it. There are lots of ways to do this and tips, etc.. and I am sure I
won’t cover them all but will share what has worked for me.

First is
the actual buying of the turkey. I typically have purchased frozen turkeys.
The week before Thanksgiving you can find turkeys at the best price of the
year. In fact I usually take advantage of these great prices and buy another
turkey or two for the freezer. A mini Thanksgiving dinner at another time of the
year is actually kind of fun. A couple of years ago I bought a fresh turkey
from Costco and it was good too.

If you
buy your turkey frozen you will need a few days to let it defrost. Do not sit
it on the counter to defrost. The outside of the turkey will start to spoil
before the center has completely defrosted. This is especially true for bigger
birds. I put my turkey in the refrigerator to defrost. Two days ahead of time
for a small turkey (say 12lbs or under) and three to four days for a bigger
turkey.

The
night before Thanksgiving I open the turkey up and wash him and remove the
giblets. I put those in a bowl and put them back in the fridge. The next day I
boil those with some salt and use the broth for my gravy as well as cutting up
the giblets to add to the gravy. I rinse the turkey off in cool water making
sure he has defrosted completely. I put him in a large roaster pan, cover him
up with plastic wrap and put him back in the fridge until the next day.

I also
make up my stuffing the night before. Don’t put the stuffing in the bird the
night before to save time. This can once again cause spoilage. After I make
the stuffing I store it in the fridge.

On
Thanksgiving morning I pull the turkey out, preheat the oven, remove the plastic
and stuff my turkey. I find the easiest way to do this is to set the turkey in
my clean sink and use a big spoon (or my clean hands) to spoon in the
stuffing. Then I set the stuffed turkey on my roasting pan. I melt a cube (we
call them cubes here in my parts.. some call them sticks) of butter and if it is
a big turkey I melt 2 cubes. I take a brush and brush the top of my turkey with
this melted butter. Cover the bird with foil and put him in the oven to start
baking.

After he
has baked for about an hour I use my trusty turkey baster and baste him with the
melted butter that has drizzled to the bottom of my pan along with any other
juices that have also accumulated.

I
continue to cook and baste for the required amount of time. The closer I get to
the finish time the more frequently I baste. I also take the foil off for the
last couple of hours so the turkey can brown nicely.

Now for
some specifics:

Temperature to Bake a Turkey:

325 is
what I have always done

How Long to Cook:

If your
turkey is stuffed:

8 to
12lbs about 3 hours

12 to
15lbs about 4 hours

15 to
18lbs about 4 ½ hours

18 to
24lbs about 4 1/2 to 5 hours

If you
don’t stuff your turkey you can subtract about anywhere from 15 minutes to a
half hour off the above times.

However
my experience has been that this is a rough estimate. I have had it take longer
or shorter.. Your very, very best guide will be your thermometer.

The
temperature of the whole turkey, no matter where you put the thermometer (but
not touching bone) should read a minimum of 165 (and that includes taking the
temp of the stuffing). I actually like it when the temps are a bit higher than
that say.. 180.

I also
wiggle the drumstick and it should move very easily. When the turkey has
finished cooking, take it out of the oven and let is sit for 15 to 20 minutes.
This will give you time to make the gravy and mash the potatoes.

I hope
you all have a wonderful day of good food, family and much thankfulness.

Monday, November 25, 2013

Thanksgiving always means to me a time to stop and give thanks. I’ve seen many
lists on the things people are thankful for in their life. I have my own list as
well. But I have really been contemplating something beyond this. I’ve been
contemplating and thinking about a heart of gratefulness.

How is this different you might ask? Well I’ll share my thoughts. In my mind a
true heart of gratefulness goes beyond my list of what I’m thankful for. It is a
deeper meaning that I am going to strive for in my life. I looked it like this..
if you were walking through a desert of heat you would be so thankful, deeply
grateful for every drop of water you had. If you stood next to a huge lake,
water would be taken for granted. How many things in my life do I take for
granted?

It’s not about looking at those less fortunate than I am and realizing my
blessings. It is choosing every day to be honestly grateful for all my
blessings. I remember something from several years ago. I was driving with my
van full of children to Walmart. Now, I live in a beautiful area. It is so
beautiful that is considered a National Scenic Area (The Columbia River Gorge).
I’m driving to Walmart and my kids are being noisy and my mind is focused on my
trip to Walmart, what I need to do after I get home, food to prepare and chores
to be done. Then it hits me. It is a completely beautiful July day. The sun is
shining, the sky is an intense blue, the trees and mountains beside me are a
deep, rich, vibrant green and brown the Columbia River to my left is stunning in
its colors and calmness. If a tourist was driving through they would have been
in incredible awe by the beauty of it all. But on that day for me, up until that
point, it was just how I got to Walmart. I realized that in the hectic pace of
my life, I take things for granted. The beauty of God’s creation right in front
of me goes unnoticed due to focus on other things.

How many other things go unnoticed in my life? The laugh of a child, the quiet
of an afternoon, the noise of a houseful of grandchildren, a cup of coffee
shared with a good friend, the rain making my area so green and beautiful, the
hard work of my husband to provide for us, a load of clean and folded laundry,
the wood stove simmering and keeping us warm, the work of my husband and sons
who gather the wood in and stack it and bring it into the house so I can make a
fire and keep us warm and toasty all winter long, a pot of soup on a cold
winters day, the blessings of being a stay at home wife and mother, a clean
kitchen, dirty dishes (as they say it shows I have someone to cook for), a child
who learns a hard concept in his/her school day, a quiet evening spent with my
hubby, new toothbrushes, dirty windows that show the handprints of little
grandchildren who’ve been at my house, a barn full of hay to feed my goats for
the winter, and my list could go on and on, the big stuff and the little stuff.
Lord may I never take any of it for granted.

So many things go way beyond my list, it is a daily heart that wakes each
morning and says, thank you Lord, I am alive today, and I have so much to be
thankful for that it can bring me to tears. If you’ve ever lost a loved one or
been close to losing your own life, then you know how incredibly grateful you
can be to simply wake up in the morning and step into the day ready to tackle
whatever God has in store. Let me live daily with a heart that is truly grateful
to Lord and chose not to take my life for granted. As a Peanuts cartoon I saw
the other day said, “What if today I was just grateful for everything”. That is
my desire, to strive towards a daily heart of true gratefulness to my Lord and
Savior. Not all days will be great days, some will be hard, some will be sad,
some will try my patients, but every day there is beauty, there are blessings
and there is a Lord that has blessed me with so many beautiful simple things.
Lord may I never take any of it for granted.

I have a busy week ahead! I especially need my meals well planned. Thanksgiving
is on Thursday, but my daughter Leanne arrives home on Saturday so our
family decided to wait and celebrate the holiday with her. So we will be having
our big feast of thankfulness on Sunday.

MondayEnchiladas, chips & salsa, salad – I have extra people in the house so I’m
making 2 pans of enchiladas. I’m filling them with hamburger & rice and covering
one with a red enchilada sauce and the other with sour cream enchilada sauce.

SaturdayHorderves for Leanne’s “welcome home” party – after picking up Leanne from
the airport my family will gather at my home to give Leanne a welcome home
celebration.. the horderves will consist of little smokies in bbq sauce, hoagie
roll sandwiches cut in thirds and put on a platter, veggie platter
w/ranch dip, bacon cheddar stuffed mushrooms, crab dip and chips – my daughters
will be helping to make all these as I’ll be working on preparations for
Thanksgiving dinner! :)

Saturday, November 23, 2013

I’ve wanted to try cooking oatmeal in a crockpot for a long time now. I’ve read
mixed reviews on this recipe. One thing I learned was that if you use regular
cooking oats you will end up with a gooey porridge mess. So I made this using
steel cut oats. Steel cut oats are basically the oat grain, also called groats.

To make rolled oats, which most are more familiar with, the groats are put through
an oat roller. The thinner they are rolled is what determines if your oats are
regular cooking, quick cooking or instant. Steel cut oats are the oat groat that
has been cut into small size pieces. They take longer to cook than rolled oats.
That is why they work well for crockpot oatmeal.

You can find steel cut oats in some grocery stores, health food stores or
online.

This was super good and my family really enjoyed it. It seems to be showing up on my breakfast rotation weekly now because it is so easy to make. There's nothing like waking up to a hot breakfast ready to serve.

Grease a 3qt crockpot (I use coconut oil for this). Add all ingredients. Stir.
Cover and set on low. Let this cook for 7 to 8 hours. If it cooks longer it just
gets a little more crusty around the edges but won’t be a problem otherwise.
Enjoy as you would a bowl of oatmeal adding extra milk or sweetener to your
desired taste.

Friday, November 22, 2013

One thing I like about this recipe is that it uses canned peaches. If you
regularly keep canned peaches on your pantry shelf it is easy to put this coffee
cake together for yummy breakfast. I recently served it with yogurt and bacon
for a delish meal!

Mix all the dry ingredients and set aside. In a large mixer bowl beat butter and
honey until well blended. Add eggs, buttermilk and vanilla and mix again. When
this is mixture is well blended, add your dry ingredients and mix until it is
well combined. Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray and pour batter into pan. Now
take your drained peaches and layer in an attractive way over the top of the
cake and sprinkle the cinnamon over the top. Bake this cake at 350 for 40
minutes or until knife inserted in the center comes out clean..

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

I use oatmeal a lot for breakfast. It is inexpensive and healthy. Over the years
I’ve tried to vary how I use this breakfast food so that not every morning is
oatmeal porridge. This has been one version I’ve made for a long time now and it
is always a family favorite. If you are dairy free you can use a substitute for
the milk such as rice or almond milk.

We eat it hot out of the oven with a little milk poured over it. You can add
extra sweetener if you’d like but it is sweet with the honey already added. If
you want to do any preparations the night before you can mix up everything
except the baking powder and salt in a bowl and the next morning add the baking
powder & salt and pour into a greased 9x13 pan and bake according to the recipe.

In a large mixing bowl combine your oil, melted butter, honey & eggs. When this
is mixed add the milk. Now add in your dry ingredients, oats, baking powder,
salt. Pour this mixture into a 9x13 pan and bake for 45 min. at 350

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Now that fall is here I try and make more hot breakfast foods for my family. I
thought I would share some of my favorites with you this week.

I LOVE this casserole! Sweet potatoes are in abundance during the fall/holiday
season and this is another great use for them. I like the simplicity of this
recipe: you don’t have to let it sit overnight, does not use any cream soups or
other packaged food and best yet, it tastes delicious!! It is a great one to
serve to company as well. The other reason I like it is that is so versatile. If
you are gluten free and/or dairy free it is also excellent. I’ve made this
casserole many times without the cheese and it is still wonderful! You can add
other veggies or subtract veggies you don’t care for.

A tip for peeling sweet potatoes… I’ve heard many people say how difficult sweet
potatoes are to peel. Well I’ve found a way to peel them that takes very little
effort. I use a cheese slicer that looks like this…

Lay grated sweet potato on the bottom of a 9x13 pan that has been sprayed with
non stick spray. Heat a large frying pan on medium high and add butter. When
butter has melted add veggies. Stir and cook until veggies begin to soften. Add
sausage and cook until veggies are tender and sausage is completely cooked.
Spread the veggie/meat mixture on top of the sweet potatoes.

In a large bowl crack eggs and mix well (like you would for scrambled eggs). Add
grated cheese and mix. Add salt and pepper. Pour this mixture over sweet
potato/veggie/meat mixture. Bake at 350 for 35 to 40 minutes until eggs are set.
Serve with a bit of salsa on top and a breakfast smoothie to go along with it
for a delish meal that will keep everyone happy and full for a very long time!

Monday, November 18, 2013

Last week was one of those weeks where not a whole lot went as planned with my
menu! I had a couple days where I planned to feed more people than I actually did which
meant a couple extra nights of leftovers and one night that was a complete
change of menu due to special requests, which I was happy to make.. So some of
the meals are repeats from last week as the food is sitting in my freezer and
pantry ready to be used..

Sunday, November 17, 2013

I wanted to share a couple yummy recipes I made this week. On Friday I made
pizza. It was not on my menu for the week but my daughter Emily & her hubby were
coming for a visit and requested pizza. So I could not refuse the request! :) I
made gluten free pizza crusts (my son in law is gluten free). We made 2 regular
type pizza’s with tomato sauce and then experimented with a new type of pizza
sauce. Sierra and I enjoy trying different things with pizza every now and
again. So we made Pesto Pizza Sauce. We loved it!! My daughter and her hubby
loved it.. my sons, well, in their mind, it just was not “pizza” ha, ha!! We
topped the pizza with sausage, bacon, tomato slices, onions, mushrooms, spinach
and of course, cheese. If you like gormet type pizzas (and you like pesto sauce)
you will like this one. I’m sorry to say we did not get a picture.. too much
time enjoying family and food to remember to take a pic. But here is the recipe:

Pesto Pizza Sauce1 cup pesto sauce
¼ cup ranch dressing

Mix together, spread on pizza dough and bake according to your recipe. Very easy
and very good!

Print
this recipe:

The other recipe I have to share is Coconut Brown Rice. This was a fantastic
match to our Teriyaki chicken (another recipe I’ll be sharing soon).

Put rice in stock pot. Open coconut milk and pour into large measuring cup. Add
water until you have 4 ¼ cups total amount of liquid. Pour into stock pot with
rice. Add salt. Stir and bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 1
hour and 10 minutes. Serve and enjoy!

Saturday, November 16, 2013

November is really racing by! In fact I’m finding it hard to believe how fast
this year has gone by. In just a few weeks we will be embracing a new year. But
oh so much excitement before that happens. I love this time of year. The
holidays are always exciting to me. However I will confess that I’ve not done
any Christmas shopping yet and the thought of that is a little overwhelming,
LOL! How are you doing on your Christmas shopping? Do you plan ahead,
make homemade gifts, be prepared as early as possible? Wait until the last
minute? :) I will say as a last minute shopper type I do almost all my shopping
online. Between Amazon, Target and Walmart I can get most of it done rather
quickly. And I’m thankful for UPS as well! LOL!!

The countdown continues with Leanne! She will be home from S. Korea in 2 weeks! We can hardly
wait. She has been gone one year now and it seems like forever! She is super
excited too. She has been busy preparing to leave. She has household items to
gift to other teachers. This seems to be how it is done. Anything acquired that
cannot be taken home is given to other teachers. Items like crockpots, coffee
makers, extra pots and pans, and even furniture. She can bring home 2 suitcases
and that is it. Not worth the cost to bring those items home. Despite her
excitement she has to still stay focused on her job. She works right up until
the day before she boards her plane home. She plans to come home and regroup and
decide what her next step in life will be. She is not sure she wants to continue
teaching and is considering looking into writing/editing type work. I’ll be
interested to see what her plans will be. In the meantime the holidays are upon
us and she will relax and enjoy family time. Since Thanksgiving is on the 28th
we decided to celebrate our holiday on the 1st, the day after she arrives home.
She missed last Thanksgiving and we wanted to be able to celebrate it with her.

I’m very proud of my son Jacob. He recently took his biology CLEP and passed
with a fantastic score! He now has acquired almost 3 years’ worth of college
credits in about 1 years’ time. He plans on enrolling in Thomas Edison State
College in January to finish getting the needed classes for his degree. He is
working towards a degree (nontraditionally as his sisters have done) in computer
systems and analysis. He also works 30 hours a week delivering pharmaceuticals
to nursing homes at night. He has paid for all his education to this point and
saved money as well to finish his degree. I’ve written a few articles in the
past on earning a degree nontraditionally and was thinking of writing about it
again as it is timely subject with so many kids today being saddled with
incredible debt from college loans.

As I write this blog post I’m waiting for my daughter Emily and her hubby
Brandon to arrive and spend the night with us (although I probably won’t get
this post up until tomorrow morning). We so look forward to their visits and
I’ve made pizza for us to enjoy. My daughter’s job is very demanding (staff
account for a firm in the city and in the midst of corporate tax season) and she
so values time to sit back and relax and I’m happy to make her time as relaxing
as possible. They enjoy coming up to our place for a weekend visit every now and
again, and some of mama’s home cooked food and a leisurely morning of coffee and
breakfast together.

That’s all from the homestead for
now!! Hope you have a blessed weekend!

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Figure out how many people will you be serving and how big of a turkey you will
need. To calculate this, you need to figure about 1 ½ lbs of turkey per
person. So if you are feeding 8 people you would need a turkey that was about
12 pounds. I usually buy them bigger so I will have leftovers.

Write out guest list

Plan out menu

Gather recipes

Write out grocery list

2 weeks ahead

Buy turkey (if buying frozen ones)

Make dinner rolls and freeze. I like to freeze them before baking. I shape
them into rolls; lay them out on a tray and flash freeze them. On Thanksgiving
Day I bring them out in the morning to defrost and rise.

If
your guests are contributing to the meal let them know what you would like them
to bring.

1 Week Ahead

Clean out your fridge to make room for the added food items

IF
you have not bought your turkey yet, they should be on sale this week.

Do
your grocery shopping of staple items you will need for the meal

4 to 5 Days Ahead

If
your turkey is frozen you need to put it into the fridge to defrost now. A
turkey will take anywhere from 2 to 6 days to defrost depending on its size
(figure one day for every 5 pounds of weight).

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

My daughter Sierra has been a huge blessing to me. She is an up and coming
photographer and enjoys any opportunity to practice and improve her skills. She
has been taking many of the pictures here on my blog (all pics on my blog topper
where hers). You can tell the difference between her pics and mine.. hers looks
really great! Ha, ha!! :D

Seriously though she has an eye for a picture.. I’ve been able to tell her what
my blog posts are about and she creates the picture for me. I’m ever so grateful
to her.

She has started a Face Book page to post her work on; both her photography and
her art. She is a wonderful artist as well. If you’d like to see more of her
work you can take a peek at her FB page and give it a 'like' if you are so
inclined..

Sunday, November 10, 2013

On day 1 we talked about homemaking being a ministry. In the midst of it all
take time to remember what it is all about, your family. Hug your babies and as
they grow, keep hugging. Nothing I appreciate more today is when my 30 year
old son walks into the house and gives his mama a hug. Sit and read to your
children, cuddle with them, make cookies with them, listen to them laugh and
listen to them when they have something to say.

Treat your husband each day with love and kindness. Thank him often for all his
hard work. Make him a priority in the day, not the last thing to “deal with” at
the end of the day. Cuddle, talk and enjoy him and never stop nurturing your
marriage.

When all is said and done the job of a homemaker is about the family, not the
house. The house is important, but we do it all for them.. our husband and our
children.

Saturday, November 9, 2013

One thing I have loved about being a homemaker is how much I have learned about
so many topics in life! Spend time reading books! Read on topics that interest
you and topics that will benefit your family. Over the years I’ve read and
learned about many things: cooking, baking and nutrition, herbs and herbal
medicine, sewing, how to save money, make homemade products and live frugally,
how to garden and can, homeschooling, childbirth and homebirth, and so much
more. Learning new things is fun and exciting and brings joy.

Friday, November 8, 2013

As the one who manages the home and the hearts of those around you make sure to
take care of yourself. As much as you are able to, get a good night’s sleep.
This is more difficult if you have babies up in the night but do your best to
nap when you can and get needed rest. Start the day with a shower, get dressed
down to shoes, and take care of your hair, etc. I feel more energy to start my
day when I’ve taken care of the basics of taking care of me. As a homemaker I’ve
found it important to not allow myself to neglect these things. I know it can be
depressing to spend the day in my jammies (other than during illness and such)
and with depression comes lack of joy. The caregiver of the home needs a little
basic care too.

Thursday, November 7, 2013

A routine is a plan of action for your day. Keep your day orderly. Spend time
with basic household upkeep and keep clutter to a minimum. Make time in the day
for food preparations and plan out meals to prevent stress at the end of the
day. Keep a calendar of appointments and activities so you can be prepared ahead
of time. Make lists to help keep you focused on what needs to be tackled each
day. A life with order can bring much joy.

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Homemaking is not a job, it’s a calling. With a job you work for a set amount of
time and then you are done. At the end of the week you receive a paycheck. If
you quit your job, you can be replaced. Homemaking is a calling. God has given
you a husband and a family and considered you the most capable of taking care of
them, loving them and serving them. Give the Lord 100% of what you have in what
He has called you to. It is a ministry of love and devotion. It’s not something
you can quit and you cannot be replaced.

Realize that the meals you cook, the laundry you fold, the floors you sweep &
mop say, “I love you” and “You mean the world to me” to your family.

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

This week I’m going to be sharing ways to find joy in homemaking. A homemaker’s
life can be filled with stresses. It is easy to lose the joy. I hope to be able
to share some basic practical ways to find joy even amid stressful or chaotic
times.

Today’s thought is: The right attitude

Attitude is everything. If you think your job is tireless drudgery it will be
and there is no joy in drudgery. Yes, the house will get dirty, the family will
need to be fed, and the to-do list is always growing. . Just remember being a
homemaker is the opportunity to love and serve your family each day. For me a
thankful heart is what always helps my poor attitude. I choose to be thankful
that the Lord has called me to this ministry of service and I remind myself I do
it for Him and how blessed I am to be my husband’s helpmeet and mama to the
amazing children He has blessed me with.

And let’s not forget to start the day with prayer and reading from the Word. The
Word of God in our hearts and prayer is the surest way to a joyful attitude.

Sunday, November 3, 2013

I admit I’m not the craftiest of people. However I’m truly blessed to have a
creative talented daughter that is quite crafty! What I’ve admired about her
creative side is that she examines what is around her, in the house or outdoors,
and uses it for her creations. She loves to decorate for whatever season or
holiday we are in. She asked while we were in town last week if she could stop
at the Dollar Store. She wanted a few little extras to work with for some fall
decorations. I was happy to oblige her on this. I spent $7 for a few flowers and
some candles. She took that and items we already had and created a few beautiful
decorations that are now brightening up our home. It’s nice to know that making
a house a home does not have to cost a lot. If you need a little inspiration on
decorating your home maybe her pictures will help give you some ideas on using
things around you to create beautiful decorations for your home.

The little milk jug and wine glasses were purchased at Goodwill, dried flowers
from the Dollar Store ..

The candle from the Dollar Store, the leaf from outside, the other items were
from the home..

Tree branches from outside, the flower from the Dollar Store, the rest from the
home…

All of these items were things we currently had (evergreens and twigs from
outside) …

The last one is a centerpiece for the dining room table. The ivy is actually
real; the wine glass/coffee bean candles I showed you in my last blog post and
the plastic flowers were from the Dollar Store…

I hope this may have given you a little decorating inspiration for this
beautiful fall season!!